Ganduje dethroned Sanusi on Monday, and effort to Reconcile them was wasted

A “Wasted” Effort to Reconcile Gov. Ganduje and Emir Sanusi.
~Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Military Head of State.

Following the protracted feud between Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and Mr Sanusi, some Northern elders in December 2019 appointed Mr Abubakar and two APC governors to an 11-member reconciliation and resolution committee to find a lasting solution to the feud.

Mr Abubakar, who was the chairman of the committee, said it did its best by holding separate meetings with the Governor and the former Emir

He explained that after a meeting with the two parties, the committee left the Governor and the Emir to discuss.

The committee listed:
-Poor communication,
- New legislation (Kano state emirates council law, 2019),
- Sanusi’s public utterances, and '
- Appointment of new Emirs as major factors that fueled the crisis between the Governor and the deposed Emir.

The former military ruler said at the end of the exercise, his team submitted a report to President Buhari before he left the country. But he was not sure if “he (President Buhari) had intervened.

“After conclusion of the assignment, we realised that there was amicable resolution to the crisis. Surprisingly, this is what happened at last,” he said.

Asked by the interviewer whether the committee had achieved its mandate, he said,
“Well, I cannot say so in view of the latest development. In my view, all the committee’s efforts are wasted.”

On President Buhari’s role, he said:
“I can’t really say whether Buhari has a hand in the matter because I am currently not in Nigeria.

“But before I left the country, we submitted our report to him, and he expressed willingness to intervene in the matter in order to have amicable resolution, despite being a constitutional matter. I really don’t know if he had intervened.”



Asked whether it was the President’s silence that led to the Emir’s dethronement, Mr Abubakar said,
“Well, as I have said, I don’t know whether he intervened or not. But if he actually intervened, I will be surprised if we would find ourselves in this situation.”

Ganduje dethroned Sanusi on Monday, and appointed Aminu Ado Bayero as the new Emir.

Reacting to the development, Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano who appointed Sanusi, alleged that President Buhari ordered the dethronement of the former emir but the presidency has denied the allegation.
On his part, the Chairman of the committee said the removal of Sanusi amounted to waste of the efforts to resolve the crisis.

Sanusi, who said he accepted his dethronement in good faith, is currently in Awe local government area of Nasarawa state where he was banished to.
Although the Kano government denied banishing him, residents of Awe have revealed that the former monarch is living like
a prisoner.